Apparatus for mixing fluids



Oct. 29, 1935. k F. w. STONE El AL APPARATUS FOR MIXING FLUIDS Filed Jan. 5, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 gwvmtozs FEEDER/CK W STONE JAMES W. GAPF/SO/V Oct. 29, 1935. F. w. STONE El AL APPARATUS FOR MIXING FLUIDS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FREDERICK M- 570! JAMES IV- GARE/SON Gttornegs Filed. Jan. 5, 1933 Patented Oct. 29, 1935 PATENT OFFIC'E 2,019,325 APPARATUS FQR MIXING FLUIDS Frederick W. Stone and James N. Garrison. Gieveland, Ohio Application January5, 1933, Serial No. 650,292

4 Claims.

plumbite or doctor" solution.

In industrial processes it is frequently desired to intimately mix two fluids. The present invention is adaptable to many diiferent applicathe gasoline manufacturing process.

Sodium plumbite solution is principally used for chemically treating or sweetening petroleum mercaptans to other compounds which are not disagreeable and also removes some of the sulphur compounds. The sodium plumbite solution used in the industry is commonly referred to as and consists principally of a solution of lead oxide, caustic soda and water in varying proportions according to the result 'desired.

In the process of sweetening petroleum products it is usually necessary to add elementary sulphur and this, together with the sulphur in solution which results after the conversion of the sulphur is a black sludge consisting principally of oil, lead sulphide, caustic soda and sodium sulphide. Because of the difiiculties which have been experienced in reclaiming the spent doctor solution the usual practice has been to remove it as a waste product. This results in a serious economic loss and is also frequently a nuisance as the lead sulphide contaminates any streams or bodies of water into which the waste doctor solution may be discharged. It has been proposed to reclaim and Attempts to regenerate the solution in this manner, with which we are familiar, have not been successful due to the excessive power required to cause a sufiicient quantity of air to with the spent solution and to inefiiciencies in the procedure followed.

It'is among the objects of our invention there- I. fore to provide an improvedapparatus for intimately mixing a gas with a liquid and particularly for mixing air with spent doctor solution. Another object of our invention is the provision of apparatus for intimately mixing gas and liquid which requires a minimum expenditure of power to accomplish the desired results.

The above and other objects 01' our invention will appear from the following descriptionof our improved apparatus and the method for which it is particularly adapted, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure -1 is a side elevation partly in section of our improved mixing apparatus.

Figure 2 is a cross section, on a reduced scale, so taken on line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic side elevation of apparatus adapted to carry out our improved method of regenerating sodium plumbite.

In the drawings (Figures 1 and 2) the tank I is suitably mounted on a base or foundation 2 and is provided with a top cover plate 3. The chimney 4 serves to carry away vapors which may arise from the liquid being treated in :the tank. A vertical shaft 5 is centrally disposed in the tank I and may have a bearing at its lower end in the bracket 6. The upper end of theshaft 5 is connected to the driving motor or other prime mover I through the gear box 8, which in the illustration shown is adapted to transmit 85 power at right angles, and the belt or chain 9 which connects the pulley or sprocket ID to the motor .1. A second :belt or chain H is adapted to drive the blower fan l2 from the motor 7.

suitable type and takes 40 flow at relatively low pressure, downwardly through a pipe 13 into the tank I. The lower end of the pipe 1 3, as shown, comprises an annular outlet member M which is provided with a plurality of holes on its lower side. The drive shaft 5 passes through the central opening in the annular outlet M.

An impeller unit i5 is secured to the shaft 5 immediately below the outlet member I 4. This 50, impeller 15 preferably includes a;plurality of radially extending blades mounted on a. hub and is, of course, rotatable with the shaft 5. The housing l6 for the impeller I5 is supported by lugs ll whichare clamped on or otherwise suitably attached to the vertically extending rods 18. The housing I6 is provided with annular top and bottom inlet openings 19 and 26 and with a slotlike circumferentially extending outlet opening 2|. As seen in Figure 1 this outlet opening 21 is adapted to discharge fluid in a downwardly direction as indicated by the arrows on the drawings.

Another agitating impeller 22 is mounted on the shaft 5 below the impeller 15. This impeller 22 is substantially the same as impeller 15 but the empeller housing 23 is provided with split circumferentially extending outlet slots 24 and 25. and it will be seen that fluid which is drawn in through the inlet openings by the rotation of the impeller 22 will be divided and part directed upwardly through the outlet slot 24 and part downwardly through the outlet slot 25. The impellers l5 and 22 are preferably vertically adjustable on the shaft 5 and the housings 23 and I6 may also be moved vertically on the rods l8. Thus, the agitating units may be spaced to give the most effective operation and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that any desired number of agitating units may be mounted on the shaft 5 as deemed necessary or desirable.

In order to maintain the liquid being treated at the proper temperature we have provided a pipe coil 26. Steam may be admitted to this coil through the pipe 21 and discharged either directly into the sewer connection 28 through the pipe 29 or by-passed into the sewer through the steam trap 36 by means of proper manipulation of the control valves SI and 32.

The liquid to be treated (spent doctor solution) is conveyed to the tank I through the pipe 33 and a valve 35 is interposed in the pipe to control the flow therethrough. Another inlet pipe 26, having a valve 81, may be provided to supply water to the tank I to maintain the proper concentration of the solution.

A bottom outlet 38 controlled by a valve 39 is adapted to discharge the contents of the tank I into the sewer 28 through pipe 46. The pipe 46 is also connected through pipe 4 l, valve 42 and pipe 43 to the pivoted skimmer pipe 55. This pipe 44 may be secured in the desired position by means of a chain 45 which engages a suitable hook 46 on the side of the hand hole 31 in the cover plate 3. The function of the skimmer pipe 54 will be later explained.

The regenerated doctor solution may be withdrawn from the tank I through the pipe 48 which extends into the tank I and has an inlet opening adjacent the bottom of the tank. The pipe 48 may be connected to a suitable pump or other means for withdrawing the liquid and the flow through the pipe can be controlled by the valve If desired the liquid which is skimmed ofl by the skimmer pipe 44 may be conducted to the pipe 48 through pipe 50 instead of discharging it into the sewer through the pipes 4| and 40. By proper manipulation of the valves 42 and 5| the disposal of the skimmed liquid may be controlled.

In Figure 3 we have diagrammatically illustrated a layout of apparatus adapted to carry out our improved method of regenerating sodium plumbite. In this layout the agitating unit which is generally indicated at A, is substantially the same as that illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 and described above. It should be noted, however, that the unit A is driven. by a steam turbine 55, as distinguished irom the electric motor 1, shown in Figure l and the piping arrangements are not exactly the same. These difierences will become evident from the following description of Figure 3.

The spent doctor solution, after it has been used to sweeten the oil, is discharged into the storage tank 56 and may be kept at the desired temperature therein by the steam coil 51 which may be supplied with steam from the pipe 56 under the control of valve 59. A pivoted skimmer pipe 60 is disposed within the tank 56 and is adapted to skim off any oil which may rise to the surface oi the spent solution during its stay in the tank 56. This oil may be conducted through the pipes 6| and 62 to the wash oil tank 63. The spent solution is withdrawn from the bottom of tank 56 through the pipe 64 by the transfer pump 65. This pump 65 is adapted to force the spent solution through pipes 66 and 61 into the agitating unit A. The skimmer pipe 68 of unit A is preferably pivoted so that the proper quantity may be removed and the skimmed oil is conveyed to the tank 63 by gravity through the pipe 62. An oil by-pass pipe 63 is provided so that, if desired, the oil may be discharged into the sewer through pipe 16. The heating coils ll of the unit A are supplied with steam through pipe 12 from a suitable source of supply and are also adapted to utilize exhaust steam from the turbine 55 which is connected to the coil 11 through pipe 13.

The pump 65 is connected to the caustic tank 14 through the pipes 15 and 16 and is adapted to withdraw caustic solution (NaOH) from the tank 14 and discharge it into the agitator A through pipes 66 and 61 for purposes which are fully described later. After the regenerating process has been completed in the unit A the regenerated doctor solution is withdrawn from the lower part thereof through the pipe 11. The pump 65 is suitably connected to the pipe 11 through the pipe 18 and is adapted to withdraw the regenerated solution and dischargeit through pipe 19 into the regenerated doctor solution storage tank 86. The tank 86 is provided with a bottom outlet pipe 8| which conducts the solution to the treater where the oil is sweetened. In the layout above described it will be understood that valves are disposed wherever necessary to properly controlthe operation of the apparatus and are conventionally illustrated in the drawings. A single transfer pump 65 is so connected that it may be utilized to discharge the various fluids into the unit A and to withdraw the regenerated solution therefrom. Thus, by properly manipulating the control valves the pump can be connected to withdraw fluid from any one of the tanks 56, 63, 14, and through the pipe 15 and discharge the liquid into the tank 01' the regenerating unit A through the pipes 65 and 61. Water may be discharged into the unit A through the pipes 82 and 61.

Our improved method of regenerating the spent doctor solution will now be described, reference being had to the apparatus illustrated in Figure 3.

The spent doctor solution, which always contains a certain amount of the oil which has been treated, is collected in the tank 56. While the solution remains in the tank 56 some of the oil may rise to the suriace thereof and be skimmed off through the pipe 60 and carried by gravity to the oil tank 63. To start the operation, a charge of spent solution is withdrawn from the tank 56 and discharged into the tank of unit A. As

noted above a portion of the oil which is contained in the spent solution may be separated out by simply heating the solution and allowing the lead sulphide to settle and the oil to rise to the surface where it may be removed by skimming. However, a certain portion of the oil is combined with the sodium hydroxide and the lead sulphide in the form of emulsion which will not break up by simple settling and heating. Therefore, in our improved process we heat the solution in the tank of the unit A to the proper temperature, approximately 150 F., and by rotating the impellers of the unit A relatively slow- 1y, we are able to break up the emulsion above noted and coagulate the small particles of oil so that they can rise to the surface and be with? drawn by skimming. As it is necessary that all oil be removed from the solution before successful oxidization of the lead sulphide can take place, this step of our process is important. The regenerator unit A provides a means for controlled agitation and heating by which the emulsion of the oil with the sodium hydroxide and lead sulphide may be broken and oil free lead sulphide be precipitated. If necessary, additional elementary sulphur may be added to the solution during the precipitation stage to aid in the precipitation. After the oil has completely separated out, by the combined normal separation into strata and the breaking down of the emulsion and coagulation of the oil particles, as above noted, it is skimmed oif by the pipe 68 and collected in the wash oil tank 63. The heating operation may now be continued until the solution reaches a temperature of approximately 175 F. (this temperature, however, is subject to rather wide variation). Provisions are made for adding fresh sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution to the regenerator unit A so that sodium plumbite may be formed as rapidly as the lead sulphide is oxidized to lead sulphate or lead oxide.

Next the motor or steam turbine 'i or 55 is started driving the impellers l5 and 22 and the blower fan l2. The rotation of the impeller I5 causes the liquid to be drawn in through the inlet openings [9 and 20 and discharged downwardly through the circumferential slot 2|. Air is blown into the liquid through the pipe I3 and the annular outlet head l4 and, as the holes in the head M are immediately adjacent the inlet opening 20, a large part of the air will be drawn down into the impeller l5 and caused to be intimately mixed with the liquid and discharged outwardly through the slot 2| and carried down into the tank with the liquid as indicated by the arrows. This downwardly moving body of mixed liquid and air is picked up by the impeller 22 and is again intimately mixed and agitated and thrown out through the outlet openings 24 and 25. The mixture which is discharged from the outlet 25 moves downwardly toward the bottom of the tank, and will, to a considerable extent, swirl around and be drawn back into the bottom inlet opening to the impeller 22. By providing a dual arrangement of impellers together with the air inlet which is adapted to supply the air directly into the inlet of one of the impellers, an extreme- 1y thorough and complete mixture and agitation of the liquid with the air is effected. The air is retained in the solution for a relatively long period of time with the result that very efiicient oxidization is accomplished.

In the operation of our apparatus we have found that to of lead sulphide may easily be converted into sodium plumbite in a period of eight to ten hours. After the regeneration is completed the tank contains a clear sodium plumbite or doctor solution which is ready for use and equal in its effectiveness to fresh doctor solution.

Frequently the regenerated doctor solution contains oil soluble impurities which, if permitted to remain in the solution, would discolor oil being treated thereby. These impurities can be removed by washing the solution with oil. As the oil which is skimmed from the spent doctor solution in the unit A is accumulated in the tank 63, and as this oil has already been sweetened, it is available for washing the regenerated doctor solution. Therefore, if it is necessary to wash the regenerated doctor solution, a portion of the skimmed oil is pumped to the regenerating unit A from the tank 63 through the pipes 66 and 61, after the regeneration reaction is finished, and is agitated together with the regenerated doctor solution. After the washing action is completed the agitating impellers are stopped and the oil allowed to rise to the surface from whence it is skimmed and either carried to the refinery to be redistilled or discharged to waste. described oil washing of the regenerated doctor solution removes colored impurities and free sulphur and leaves the regenerated doctor solution equal to fresh doctor solution.

The above 25 The air pressure necessary to draw the air into 30 the liquid need be very small and the power required by the blower fan I2 is negligible. In some cases the blower l2 may be omitted entirely as sufficient air will be drawn into the liquid through the pipe l5 from the atmosphere due to the suction of the impeller l3 which is effective at the inlet opening 20.

Although we have illustrated a particular em bodiment of our apparatus and described it in connection with a process for regenerating sodi um plumbite, it will be understood that our apparatus is readily adaptable to many other used where it is desired to intimately and thoroughly mix fluids with a minimum of expenditure of power. the specific apparatus shown and specific steps of method described as our invention, but claim as our invention all embodiments thereof coming within the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim is:

1. In apparatus for a tank, means for conducting liquid to said tank, means for withdrawing liquid from said tank, a plurality of agitating units in said tank arranged We do not, therefore, limit ourselves to to mixing a liquid and a gas,

in superimposed relation, each of said units in- 55 eluding an impeller and a housing therefor, each housing being provided with inlet and outlet openings, said outlet openings being adapted to direct fluid toward the next lower agitating unit} means for rotating said impellers and means for conducting a gas into said tank and. discharging same at a point adjacent the inlet opening of the housing of the upper agitating unit.

2. Apparatus for regenerating spent doctor" solution including in combination, a tank, means 65 for withdrawing regenerated solution from said for withdrawing regenerated solution from said tank, adjustable skimmer means, means for contank, adjustable skimmer means, means for conducting skimmed fluid to a place of disposal, an ducting skimmed fluid to a place oi disposal, an air conducting conduit extending into said tank air conducting conduit extending into said tank and having a downwardly directed outlet openand having a downwardly directed outlet open- 5 ing within said tank, and an agitating unit ining within said tank, an agitating unit including eluding a rotatable impeller and a housing therea rotatable impeller and a housing therefor havfor having a central inlet and peripheral outlet, ing a central inlet and peripheral outlet, said said housing being disposed in said tank with housing being disposed in said tank with the inthe inlet opening adjacent the outlet opening let opening adjacent the outlet opening of said 10 of said air conduit. air conduit, and means for forcing air through 4. Apparatus for regenerating spent doctor said air conducting conduit into said tank. solution including in combination, a tank, means FREDERICK W. STONE.

for conducting spent solution to said tank, means JAMES N. GARRISON. 

